San Francisco 49ers, 36 New Orleans Saints, 32
The Saints record breaking offense was undone by the time-honored plague that takes down great offenses; turnovers. Right from the first drive/red zone fumble from a knocked-out RB Pierre Thomas and clear through the special teams fumble diasters, QB Drew Brees and that offense had an intense uphill climb. Yet somehow, the Saints were down only 3 at halftime and kept within striking distance even as the turnovers piled up.
In the final 3 minutes, we were treated to one of the all-time classic NFL playoff endings. Most of us were shocked to see the 3rd-and-short 28-yard bootleg TD by QB Alex Smith to put them up 4. The majority of us were not so surprised at the Saints' one-minute response TD, a 66 yarder to TE Jimmy Graham to put the Saints up 3. QB Alex Smith and the usually conservative 49ers unexpectadly drove for the win not the tie, as he gunslinged down the field in 1:37, hitting TE Vernon Davis for what the media has dubbed "The Grab".
KEY PLAY: You would be hard-pressed to find a similarly aggressive play on a reel of the 2011 San Francisco 49ers entire season than the game-winning dart from Smith to Davis. Give the 49ers credit, they fought to keep Brees off that OT field, and went for the throat. A conservative approach was exactly what many thought would hold them back. So much for that.
MVP: Watching the game, I came to appreciate the athletic talent on the San Francisco defense. LB Patrick Willis leads that very D and will get my honorable MVP award, but the entire D did it with power and energy and speed. The Saints were made to look like a normal offense and the key? No fancy gameplan or scheme, just superb closing speed and sure tackeling.
New England Patriots, 45 Denver Broncos, 10
Late in the Patriots slaughter of the over-matched Denver Broncos (oh but Tebow, Tebow, Tebow!) the Broncos were still running the ball, down by 35 points. If that doesn't set off the alarm bells in the Tebow-nation, than it should. It means that the Denver coaches (who would know more than us fans and media) felt they'd have a better chance continuing to run the ball rather than throw against the league's second worst pass defense when they knows the pass is coming. Essentially, a white flag that Tebow could not perform in any capacity without play-action.
QB Tom Brady put up a lightening-fast six TDs and Coach Bill Bellicheck showed no mercy. There should be no mercy. This is not little league, or high school football, unleash WR Wes Welker, TE Rob Gronkowski and earn those millions of dollars. Does it feel like we had three straight seasons without a Patriots playoff victory? Since losing Super Bowl 41 (2008-present) they are 35-13 in the regular season but 0-2 in the playoffs.
KEY PLAY: The first touchdown to WR Wes Welker. All at once, it became clear that Denver D, while solid and admirable, has only benefited from inferior opponoents (including the hobbled Steelers). Even the casual fans knew a shoot-out meant a blow-out, a few saturday nights got started early.
MVP: TE Rob Gronkowski is that additional playmaking superstar (additional to Brady and Welker) that they have lacked since Randy Moss and he lit up the Broncos for 145 yards and 3 TDs. His TE-record 17 TDs during the season and this performance mark it already as possibly the greatest season for a tight end ever
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